1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a collapsible rail and more specifically it relates to a collapsible rail system for attachment to a variety of surfaces such as a fluoroscopy or radiographic table and easily extended into a raised position or retracted into a lowered position which is flush with the surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such related art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Collapsible rails have been in use for years on various surfaces such as tables. However, previously existing collapsible rails have suffered from various shortcomings which negatively impact their efficiency and safety in use. Existing systems often do not collapse their rails to be completely flush with the surface on which they are installed. Thus, they are not as easily to utilize for certain applications such as with fluoroscopy or radiographic tables, where having the rails flush with the table is important for ease in transferring a patient onto and off of the table.
Further, existing collapsible rail systems often fail to fully lock the rails in place when the systems are in a raised position. By only locking some of the rails in an upright position, existing systems are far less reliable and safe to use than a system which locks all rails in an upright position such as the present invention. Finally, many existing rail systems are designed for use with specific tables (i.e. fixedly attached or designed with a specific type of table design in mind), and thus are not adaptable for use on different surfaces.
Because of the inherent problems with the related art, there is a need for a new and improved collapsible rail system for attachment to a variety of surfaces such as a fluoroscopy or radiographic table and easily extended into a raised position or retracted into a lowered position which is flush with the surface.